I have owned and loved a pair of Caver Silvers for the last 15 years. Suddenly the left speaker stopped performing. I do not play loud music, I only listen to jazz 50's & 60's. I run the speakers on individual Mono Amps - one per side. Like one other member, I have another listen set-up with Martin Logans for sound. The Martin Logans are great but just are not the same as the Carvers.

The problem with the speak is the only sound it produces is a low dull muffled sound. If I had to guess, I would suspect the ribbon is dead, but I am by no means sure. I need someone (local) that can give me some guidance. I live in Chicago and would like to have them looked at by someone in the area. Do any of you have any advice for me.

Much thanks in advance.

J.

Last edited by MaddMaxx on Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Have you tried the obvious yet? Switching L&R IC's leading to the amps to see if the issue follows the IC and checking all connections between the Mono block connected to the muffled speaker in question if the issue doesn't follow the IC's? Does the ribbon on the speaker in question move at all when you power her up and send her a signal at moderate volume?

Last question for now, do you have an ohmmeter or a DVM?

In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence.

The best way to enjoy digital music reproduction is to never listen to a good analogue reproduction.

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Thanks for the reply. I have gone through all of the basics, switching the leads from the mono blocks, pulling the clips on the Silvers, pulled the back off the left speaker and checking the wires for fault from the woofers to woofer and on to the ribbon panel, and needless to say, everything is in order. On the surface, I do not see anything out of place. I don't have tools to check the crossover or condition of the ribbon and fear it is one of these two that is the source of my problem. I know there is a guy in Oregon that works on these speakers, but I hate the thought of sending the speaker across the country to evaluate the situation if there is a competent repair place in the Chicago (Midwest) area. Thanks again for the ideas.

MaddMaxx wrote:Thanks for the reply. I have gone through all of the basics, switching the leads from the mono blocks, pulling the clips on the Silvers, pulled the back off the left speaker and checking the wires for fault from the woofers to woofer and on to the ribbon panel, and needless to say, everything is in order. On the surface, I do not see anything out of place. I don't have tools to check the crossover or condition of the ribbon and fear it is one of these two that is the source of my problem. I know there is a guy in Oregon that works on these speakers, but I hate the thought of sending the speaker across the country to evaluate the situation if there is a competent repair place in the Chicago (Midwest) area. Thanks again for the ideas.

J.

MaddMaxx, AFAIK, there is only 1 shop in the USA that services the ribbons and that is CarverAudio in upper NY State in the summer and in Florida in the Winter. There are a few shops in the NW US (Oregon and Washington State) who service the crossovers and the only source for the woofers is in California (Orevox). You can always check out the post in the Repairs forum that lists all known Carver Service shops to see if there is a shop in your area.

I didn't quite understand your last post in it's entirety, so work with me here..

Can you verify that the woofers work on both speakers regardless of the amplifier or L & R channel input from the source?

From this we can verify whether it's x-over issue or a ribbon issue with a couple of tests. Wouldn't it be simpler to find out the culprit instead of sending the entire speaker somewhere that is not local? Answer some questions and we will find the issue and then direct you to the best place to get the issue corrected. The woofers, crossovers and the ribbons can all be rebuilt/replaced so you are in good hands. At this point, we are just trying to isolate what is the actual issue.

In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence.

The best way to enjoy digital music reproduction is to never listen to a good analogue reproduction.

Again thanks for the reply, I appreciate you working with me on this problem. I agree with you completely, if I can determine where the problem is I can minimize my shipping and repair concerns. What I have done is disconnect the speaker wire at the speaker post and switched the connections left wire reconnected to the right speaker and right to left. The problem in the left speaker continued. I repeated this same process at the mono amps to confirm the same situation, and still no change in the response from the left speaker. The right speaker in each of these changes has performed as advertised, with great sound. I changed the input from the preamp to the mono amps as well as checked different input sources to make sure there was no issue with the signal in the electronics, and the electronics are all good. As a side note, I put my spare Tannoy speaker on the line and everything came through crystal clear. Now, this all being said, the problem is clearly in the speaker.

The performance from the speaker is so weak, it is hard to say yes the woofers are performing at their proper level as there so little sound coming out of the speaker. What little sound that is coming from the speaker is coming from the woofer. If I turn the volume up really high, something I would never do under normal circumstances, I still do not get a clear sound at all. I would expect the woofers to push a lot of air with the volume up, but that is not happening and there is absolutely nothing happening from the ribbon.

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Thanks to both of you gentlemen. The repair shop thread has been updated, Carver fans that you probably will never see or know about will appreciate this. On their behalf, I'd like to thank you both for the information and your time.

Maddmaxx, you straight? Sir Dave is the one and only when it comes to ribbons. You need not look elsewhere, for there is no other in the world. You have found him.

In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence.

The best way to enjoy digital music reproduction is to never listen to a good analogue reproduction.